You crave cupcakes? Waffles? Pancakes? Cookies?! What about the calories?? A bummer, right?!

I personally had hard time when I first started dieting. I love all sorts of pastries and have always cheated, and the calories have always hunted me down. So I started digging for alternatives. You might have already read dozens of articles about using lighter substitutes for baking, but this is a personal experience that worked pretty well!

Wheat bran!

Source: Google images.

I couldn’t find whole wheat flour in the nearby supermarket, so wheat bran was such a great alternative. Cutting down half the flour serving and replacing it by bran will do the trick. There are other flours, like coconut flour, but honestly, I haven’t used any.

Skimmed milk!

Source: Google images.

Well, less fat = less calories. You can use almond or soy milk of course, but I guess skimmed cow milk is less expensive and the most available.

Replacing the sugar!

Source: Google images.

I use my whey protein as the only source of sugar in the pastry, it gives me high protein plus a light sugary taste. If you don’t want to use protein powders, you may go for Stevia or any sugar replacement (I personally don’t prefer that option). If you’re making a salty recipe, then even better; you won’t need sugar at all! 😛

Tasteless, but healthy!

Source: Google images.

If you want to make your pastry healthier, you may add other protein sources, my favourite pick is flaxseed. It’s tasteless, but totally useful. You may use oats as well.

Well, along with sleeping, cooking sounds like a good coping mechanism. Yesterday I had tuna for lunch, and given the fact that my taste buds don’t quite get along with tuna, I had to come up with a modification for that banana pancake recipe from Body beast workout’s nutritional guide; “The Book Of Beast”.. Somehow it turned out to be a superb meal!

It’s been a while since I last showed up! Things are pretty messed up; there’re classes as usual, a swelling photography mania, plus the recent obsession with getting in shape! So I’ve been working out, watching my calories and digging the internet for healthy recipes.

Now who said a cheesecake can’t be healthy?? All you need is to eliminate butter, cream, biscuits, cheese and… o’ oh! Don’t worry I figured it out! I combined two recipes I found on the internet and here’s the result!

Yogurt and oats cheesecake (Serves 6-8 people)!

Ingredients:

– 1 cup ground oats.

– 2-3 egg whites.

– 1 tbsp. honey.

– 2 packs plain yogurt (the lower in fat the better).

– 2 cups milk powder.

– 1 cup sugar or any sweetener.

– Strawberry jam for the topping (or whatever you want).

Preparation:

– For the base:Roast the oats in a pan until golden, then mix with egg whites and honey, and spread in the bottom of whatever you’ll bake in.

– The filling: Mix the milk, yogurt and sugar then blend together until smooth. Pour over the base.

– Bake in 160-180ْْ C until it starts to thicken or gets a golden-ish tinge.